any ice with a woman like Elizabeth—you know what a snob she is.’
The wave of sympathy crested.
What must it have been like for Connor? The illegitimate runaway son of a barmaid being thrust into a world where appearances were everything? And into the home of a woman who despised him? That must have been hard.
‘No wonder he feels uncomfortable being the best man, then….’
So that was why he’d been so hostile about being involved in the wedding? She sent an accusatory glance at Libby—ignoring the foolish little lift in her heart at the thought that his hostility had nothing to do with her. ‘You shouldn’t have put him in that position.’
Sabrina’s agitation returned. If there was anything she hated more than unnecessary drama it was thoughtlessness.
‘Oh, bugger off!’ Libby said jauntily. ‘I’m sure Connor will survive—does he strike you as the type to fold under a little social pressure?’
Sabrina’s glare faltered at the memory of the sexual confidence in his blue gaze as it dropped to her bum. Okay, there was that.
‘And anyway, there’s no point in stressing about it now, because we can’t un-make him the best man.’ Libby’s lips firmed in a determined expression that Sabrina recognised only too well. ‘And now that I’ve gone to all that trouble, and Connor’s going to be forced to withstand the killer glare of his evil stepmother, you could at least make it worth all our whiles.’
Sabrina stared at her best friend—not sure how to handle the empathy she felt for Connor the boy and the way it was making her feel about Connor the man. And resenting Libby big time for putting her in this position.
Like this situation needed to get any more complicated.
‘You’re unbelievable. You are not seriously trying to guilt me into shagging him? Why is my getting laid so bloody important to you?’
‘Because I want you to have fun,’ Libby replied, the sudden passion in her voice unsettling. ‘Because Carl did a number on you that you didn’t deserve.’ She grasped Sabrina’s hands and let out a slow breath, the cheeky grin fluttering back to life. ‘And because you need to get back in the game before your ovaries dry up and you become one of those dotty old dears who has a hundred cats.’
‘I’m only twenty-eight! And I’m allergic to cats.’ This had to be Libby’s love-dazed mind talking. She wasn’t that unhappy. Yes, Carl had been an arsehole, but she’d dumped him.
She tugged her hands out of Libby’s. ‘And how exactly would getting hooked up with a guy who’s got less staying power than a rabbit when it comes to relationships be a good idea?’
‘Because given his track record, we’re not talking about more than one night…. And Connor’s got exceptional staying power—where it counts,’ Libby continued, her cheeky grin now rife with innuendo.
‘How on earth would you know that?’ Sabrina demanded. ‘Just because he’s Jamie’s brother and he…’
‘Because I have irrefutable proof,’ Libby interrupted.
Sabrina stared. ‘What proof?’
Libby’s bright chestnut eyes danced with excitement—making Sabrina feel like a trout who had bitten into a juicy worm, only to discover there was a hook embedded in the middle of it.
‘Remember the skiing holiday me and Jamie had in Colorado last November?’
Sabrina nodded as Libby reeled her in.
‘Remember I told you Connor was snowboarding in the next valley. And he turned up for dinner one night with a date, an actress from LA who didn’t eat, but drank like a fish. And that they had to stay the night in the chalet’s spare bedroom because a snowstorm hit.’
‘Yes.’ Sabrina said cautiously, remembering far too well the sting of envy when Libby had described in glowing detail the anorexic beauty of Connor’s date. ‘So?’
‘So the walls in that chalet were paper thin—’ Libby paused for effect and Sabrina leaned in—like a moth gravitating towards the flame. ‘So we could hear every single thing Connor and his date got up to that night.’ Libby paused again, the silence unbroken as Sabrina stopped breathing. ‘And I do mean all night.’
‘You listened?’ Sabrina hissed, trying for appalled but getting enthralled instead—thanks to the lack of oxygen now reaching her brain.
‘Well, it was kind of hard to avoid because they were so loud. And it was funny at first, but then it got extremely bloody hot.’ Libby’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. ‘He spanked her.’
‘He…What?’ A fireball detonated in Sabrina’s arse and radiated up her spine. ‘That’s disgusting.’ Or at least it would be, if she could just get her arse to stop sizzling and her brain to start functioning. ‘Why didn’t you do something, if he was abusing her?’
‘Don’t be daft, Bree. It wasn’t abuse.’ Libby laughed, the husky sound not helping with the sizzling—or the lack of functioning brain cells. ‘Believe me, this was entirely consensual—emphasis on the sensual.’
‘How do you know?’
‘Because we could hear her moaning and panting during her spanking and then screaming her head off—when he was rogering her with his—’ Libby paused to do air quotes again. ‘Awesome cock. Her words, not mine.’ Libby propped a considering finger under her chin. ‘I wonder, what do you think “awesome” translates as in feet and inches? Because Jamie’s extremely well hung and they are half-brothers.’
Feet? What the…?
‘Shut up.’ Sabrina squeezed her thighs together, disturbed by the picture that appeared in her mind of Connor McCoy and his ‘awesome cock’ pounding into her.
Bloody hell, was she actually getting moist imagining it?
‘I don’t believe it.’ The erotic vision dissolved as her common sense intervened. ‘I’ve never screamed when I come. Have you? No guy’s that good in bed, no matter how big his dick is.’ Or no guy she’d ever slept with. ‘I bet she was faking it. She was an actress.’
‘Jamie’s made me scream a number of times.’ Libby’s eyes clouded with pity. ‘You’ve just been doing it with the wrong guys.’ Then the cheeky grin returned with a vengeance. ‘Plus I saw one of Marlena’s movies. Believe me, she’s not that good an actress.’
3) Be Aware, Size Matters: Especially when it comes to your best man’s ego. Tread carefully if he has a big one.
I don’t believe it! She rearranged our carefully considered seating plan to sit me next to Connor and his foot-long cock.
Sabrina stared in disbelief at the board displayed outside the elegant private dining salon in Rules, the historic Covent Garden restaurant Jamie’s parents had booked for the rehearsal dinner. Her scalp burned, while a disturbing heat smouldered much lower down.
I’m going to throttle my best friend less than a week
